ANAHEIM — Noah Syndergaard’s night started and ended badly, spoiling all that he’d done in between.
Syndergaard gave up no-doubt two-run homers on his fourth pitch and his 91st and final pitch, sending the Angels to a 6-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
The Angels hoped to carry the momentum from winning four of five in Seattle into a three-game home series against the last-place Royals, but neither the hitters nor Syndergaard were quite good enough.
“I was trying to go as long as I could to save the bullpen a little bit,” Syndergaard said. “I feel like I did pretty good at improving from my start against the Dodgers (which lasted 4-2/3 innings), but just a couple of pitches I just wish I had back.”
Syndergaard lasted 7-1/3 innings, which the Angels desperately needed after using all of their top relievers on Saturday and Sunday in Seattle. He also held the Royals to just one run from the second through seventh innings, giving the Angels a chance.
The problem was the Angels’ hitters went quietly, scoring just two runs in six innings against left-hander Kris Bubic, who brought an 8.36 ERA to the mound.
“I thought we had some good at-bats throughout,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “Were they consistent throughout? Probably not. But we did hit a lot of balls hard tonight. … A lot at them. Some hits. Not at the right time.”
Taylor Ward homered in the third and he drove in a run with a single in the fifth. Otherwise, the Angels never really threatened a big inning until the ninth, when pinch-hitter David MacKinnon lined out to right field to strand two runners.
Mike Trout had carried the offense in Seattle, with five homers that accounted for nine of the 16 runs they scored in the series. He singled in the first on Monday, but he was stranded.
The lack of offense left no margin for error for Syndergaard, who was burned by a couple of pitches.
He allowed a single to Whit Merrifield leading off the game. His first pitch to Andrew Benintendi was a fastball right down the middle, and Benintendi hit it over the right field fence.
Syndergaard didn’t allow another run until the seventh, with the help of a couple of impressive plays by left fielder Brandon Marsh.
Marsh raced in and dove to snag a sinking liner off Merrifield’s bat in the third inning. In the sixth, he ran back and leaped to grab a Bobby Witt Jr. drive.
“The jumps he gets, the reads he gets are outstanding,” Nevin said. “Everybody looks at the diving play, but the ball he went back on in left-center field, that’s a very tough ball to catch. He’s in the top few left fielders defensively in the game.”
Syndergaard was in one jam in the fourth, after he allowed a leadoff single and a walk. He got out with the help of a pitchout and a strong throw from catcher Kurt Suzuki, who nailed Hunter Dozier trying to steal. It was the first time this season the Angels caught a runner stealing with Syndergaard on the mound.
The score was 2-2 in the seventh when No. 9 hitter Nicky Lopez golfed a curveball at his ankles into left field for an RBI double.
Still at just 82 pitches when he took the mound in the eighth, Syndergaard gave up a leadoff single to Benintendi and then left a changeup in the wheelhouse of All-Star catcher Sal Perez. Perez cranked it 420 feet, and then stood and admired his work for a moment.
That was all for Syndergaard, who shrugged at a night in which he accomplished one goal – saving the bullpen – but he still was not sharp enough to win the game.
“I was cruising for the most part,” Syndergaard said. “Made it into the eighth. You look at the final line, it’s kind of whatever, but a step in the right direction.”
Nevin appreciated the innings Syndergaard provided.
“For Noah to pitch that deep and protect those guys, protect his teammates down in the ’pen,” Nevin said, “that was huge for us going forward and the rest of this series.”
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